campaign in new hampshire at all, moved on to south carolina. mitt romney has a commanding lead. i want to talk about that in a moment. the big winner in new hampshire, mitt romney, lost no time tonight taking on the man he sees as his biggest challenger, president obama, and drew one of the biggest applause lines from the republican front-runner's victory speech. >> the president has run out of ideas. now he's running out of excuses. >> i'm going to be joined by somebody who was a candidate himself and now supports mitt romney, tim tau lpawlenty. mr. pawlenty, a pretty good night for your man. has he sealed the deal yet? >> that's an understatement to say pretty good. he won iowa, and now he won new hampshire convincingly. he's the first incumbent candidate to win both iowa and new hampshire. so it's a big win for mitt romney, a view for america, rather than president obama's declinist view of america. >> i notice he focused on president obama and on improving america. is that going to be the consistent strategy going forward? >> he's been consistent in focusing on barack obama when other republicans have criticized him, he certainly has responded. but for the most part, mitt romney has focused on barack obama. he's the real problem here. he's the person that needs to be removed from office. when you look at barack obama's vision of america, it's about class war fare, getting to fight over shrinking pieces of pie rather than mitt romney's vision of growing the pie. those are two different positions. i think america is going to like romney's view better. >> tell me about ron paul. he had another very good night, finished with 24% of the vote. are you taking him seriously now as a possible threat to win the nomination? >> well, ron paul and mitt romney don't agree on many things, but you have to tip your cap to ran paul, at least in terms of the results he was able to garner. in iowa he had a respectable third place finish and then coming in second in new hampshire. those are sharp wins for his candidacy. he and governor romney have different views on important issues. but you at least have to acknowledge that he's speaking to a slice of the conservative coalition. >> i've got an interview with rick perry coming up, governor, in which he slams your man. he says he's a vulture capit capitalist for his activities when he ran bain. how do you answer the charges that mitt romney's a vulture? >> first, it's inaccurate and unfair. rick perry's campaign has had its share of challenges, but the argument about free enterprise and economic freedom in this country is an important one, but we shouldn't take barack obama's side on it. the democrats are the ones who criticized private enterprise and economic freedom. i'm disappointed that newt gingrich and rick perry and others are criticizing a republican and using the democrats' arguments in a republican primary. it's really unfortunate, and i think is a very, shall we say, desperate or hail mary pass, if this were a football game. >> newt gingrich has played mr. nice guy until this week. it looks like the gloves have come off. he's apparently got $3.5 million to spend through a super pac in which it's clearly going to be an assault against mitt romney. are you concerned that one of your opponents now has the financial muscle to play dirty the way you have 1234 >> i don't think you -- you're saying we have money, not that we played dirt yichlt the point is these super pacs aren't controlled by the candidates. they're independent and supposed to be independent. this is going to be a hard fought campaign, no question about it. mitt romney isn't taking anything for granted. obviously, he has the momentum, he has the tail wind. when people see his vision for america and his experience in the government sector, not just the private sector, they're going to come to the same conclusion as iowa and new hampshire, which is they're going to vote for mitt romney. you'll see that in the next few states. >> governor, thanks for a successful evening. ron paul finished a strong second to mitt romney, a showing that energized his supporters tonight. >> i called governor romney a short while ago before he gave his talk and congratulated him because he certainly had a clear-cut victory, but we're nibbling at his heels. but there was another victory tonight. he had a victory, but we have had a victory for the cause of liberty tonight. >> joined now by ron paul man jesse benson. good night for you guys. must be feeling pretty happy. >> we're ecstatic. what a victory for us tonight. we've consolidated this down into a two-man national race. now we're the conservative alternative to mitt romney. we're nipping at his heels. >> what is fascinating about ron paul is he's the oldest guy in the race by a significant margin, but he appears to be attracting the most vibrant youth vote, especially on social media. how have you managed to pull this off? it seems an incongruous match. >> well, he has the youngest ideas in this race. he's on the ideas of freedom, limited government, personal responsibility, free enterprise and commerce. those are really, really appealing to young people. the other is he tells young people the truth. he's honest with them, tells them about the mess they're inheriting, but he offers them a solution -- our constitution, liberty, getting our free many dos back. young people just respond so well. >> mitt romney is running on this sense of him being electable, and the criticism of your man is that he's dangerous. tonight he kind of embraced the danger and said, damn right, i'm dangerous, an interesting strategy. but can you move from dangerous to electable, do you think? >> well, we're dangerous to the status quo. we're dangerous to the establishment. but we're the best choice for the american people. the people that want their freedoms back, want to obey the constitution, want prosperity back in this country. i mean, that's what ron paul is all about. danger to the establishment, the safe choice for the americans. >> it was a strange lone voice today supporting mitt romney as all the criticism heaped on him for his apparent comments he liked firing people. why did he stick his neck out like that? >> well, there are two things that should bring all republicans together, and that is, one, realizing that the media will pull some gotcha statements from time to time and take things out of context, and number two, we all rally behind free enterprise and capitalism. we think it's unfortunate that republicans are going to demagogue some things taken out of context and use the language of moveon.org to attack another republican. we want to have an adult conversation in this campaign. now that it's a two-man campaign, we want to focus on the issues and talk about the issues that are important to the american people. we're going to criticize mitt romney for his health care mandate, supporting t.a.r.p., supporting big spending, but we're going to have the conversation the american people deserve and not demagogue these silly little things and not sap the free enterprise system. >> you're on a great roll. south carolina will be tougher. the latest polls have ron paul 12%, fourth place. it's a bit of a battle you're facing now. how are you going to change the operation moving forward? it's going to get more serious, isn't it? >> it is. dr. paul hasn't campaigned in south carolina. we're going to be rolling down there tomorrow. we're going to have a great rally. we've got a wonderful program. we have great mail. we're going to pump in great tv, grass roots. we're going to carry the momentum from new hampshire down to the palmetto state, and we're going to do very well. again, as people coalesce behind ron paul as the only serious alternative to the establishment mainstream candidate mitt romney, we're going to see a surge in momentum. you can guarantee that. >> finally and quickly, where does he get his energy from? >> from the people, from the supporters. when we all start to feel a little bit tired, we just like to connect with the supporters. the energy of the young people especially. it just lifts everybody up. it's just absolutely amazing, and it's what fuels him and keeps him going. >> do congratulate him from us. thank you very much. >> thanks, piers. >> so a fascinating night again although not entirely unpredictable. wolf, what did you make of -- did romney do enough to claim a really big victory? some people are saying, if he didn't get 40%, it wouldn't have been a big victory. where do you think we've ended up? >> big victory for mitt rommy, 40%, very impressive in a crowded field like that. from his perspective, the two candidates he feared the most, rick santorum and newt gingrich, they did not do well, coming in fourth and fifth. it was a huge win for mitt romney today. >> john king, the big question, i guess, of all the other runners, have any of them got it in them to actually challenge mitt romney in south carolina and going forward? >> almost forget the candidates for a minute. south carolina republicans have a big decision to make. do they embrace mitt romney, who's 2-0, or do they say not so fast? if their mood is not so fast, do they coalesce around one person? that was an interesting interview, a two-man national race. we're one on one with mitt romney. the question has been who will emerge as the candidate to challenge mitt romney? that ron paul can claim that mantel is something else. think about what the other candidates have said. mitt romney is weak. ron paul is out of the mainstream, almost a freak show in the republican party. how can you claim you're stronger if you keep losing to the candidate you call weak or freak. it's an interesting argument. >> and we wonder whether it was to the party's advantage, the republicans, to have an extended battle. when barack obama had a win after months on end, they were the only story in town. obama appeared to get better as a candidate as the months went on, and that seemed to play well for him against john mccain. couldn't the same thing happen here? could romney become a more formidable opponent? >> there are some who would argue that. he was much better tonight than the speeches he gave in the past. it was the best speech he had all year. there is that argument. you have to remember with barack obama and hillary clinton they believe largely the same things. you got to be very personal about which one you preferred. in this case, mitt romney has a fractured party on his hands with different camps. so it's important for him to end this earlier so that he can unite people behind him and have time to sort of heal the divisions there so they go into their convention and go into the fall united. i think on balance he's better off to shove this down soon. >> we've got the latest poll. mitt romney, 37% in south carolina, rick santorum, 19. newt gingrich, 18. ron paul at 12. rick perry at 5. and huntsman at 1. we know that gingrich is going to spend $3.5 million. this is the first big financial assault on mitt romney. quite clearly, i'm interviewing newt gingrich for the hour tomorrow. it's fascinating. he's gotten rid of the halo. the nice guy stuff wasn't working. >> i'm not sure he ever wore the halo. >> the devil is back. he's going to go for it. >> there is that wall between them. look, i think newt gingrich never really wore the halo. i think newt gingrich had no choice but to be positive because he didn't have a lot of money and didn't have the super pac money. now he's got the super pac. he's been attacked by mitt romney's super pac mercilessly. talk about this getting personal. this is getting personal. early on in the debates, gingrich didn't really criticize mitt romney. he always kind of said, no, no, no, mitt romney's a good man, and i was thinking, well, maybe he wants to be in the cabinet at some point. who knows? now he is the man leading the charge against mitt romney and leading the charge against the entire republican establishment, who is appalled there is a class warfare fight going on within the republican party. >> let me ask you specifically about this bain issue. rick perry in an interview, he's about to come on the show, is pretty scathing here. he calls mitt romney a vulture capitalist. he's trying to use his time at bain as a weapon against him. my gut feeling is this may well backfire. romney is already turning it into an advantage, saying i had a great record there. i created jobs. at a time when there's a lot of people out of work, not a bad message. who's going to win this argument? >> this is going to be really difficult because private equity -- in theory, you buy companies that are in bad shape. you build them up, make money in doing so, and you sell them off. sometimes jobs are lost when you do that. "the wall street journal" did a fantastic analysis of whether mitt romney createded jobs or not, and it's almost impossible to tell. if bain bought a company and sold it and then the company did well and created jobs, do those jobs count for mitt romney or not? that gray area nuance is going to continue through the primary and through the general election, if indeed he's the nominee. it's hard to say. >> if you buy a company that's in trouble and it then goes bankrupt, did you cause the loss of jobs? it's hard to say if that's true. >> it's incredibly hard to answer that question. certainly, by every measure that i've heard all the people that i have interviewed over the years that have known him or worked with him, he is perceived to be a very capable manager. >> the question -- i don't think this is going to necessarily make newt rise, but will it make romney fall? i think that's the real question. >> i think $3.5 million worth of advertising in a place like south carolina, where that buys you a lot of air time. if they chip away, could somebody like jon huntsman come back into the frame? could he take some of that time and some of that voting away from mitt romney? >> here's the difference between south carolina and iowa. we saw mitt romney's super pac blasting away at newt gingrich. ron paul's pac blasting away at newt gingrich, destroyed newt gingrich. he was really running high in early december. he collapsed almost completely because he didn't respond. the difference in south carolina is mitt romney, in the face of this newt gingrich barrage, he has the money to respond. he can do what newt gingrich didn't do in iowa. he learned that lesson. he will fight back. he won't turn the other cheek and simply try to take the high road. they're going to fight it out in south carolina. it's going to be ugly. >> if mitt romney wins in south carolina, is he basically the nominee? >> it isn't a done deal yet. i think he'll still have to win in florida. >> erin? >> i would agree with that, but i would think the momentum would be so much behind him. >> i think, as george bush used to say, he's got the big mo going into florida, and he's got the money for florida. >> 3 out of 3, done deal? >> done deal. >> yes. there's your one word. >> unequivocal down the line. thank you all very much indeed. coming up, can rick perry revive his campaign in south carolina? i'll ask the candidate himself when we come back. i want healthy skin for life. 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[ female announcer ] only from aveeno. rick perry threw in the towel in new hampshire to concentrate on south carolina's primary on january 21st. so maybe a surprise that he didn't do well tonight as he struggles to keep his campaign afloat. he joins me now. 1% isn't great, particularly at the moment. being in the 1% is the last place you want to find yourself, isn't it? >> well, we didn't compete in new hampshire. so it doesn't surprise us that our score there was a bit on the low side. it's the reason we came directly to south carolina. the message here and the people of south carolina, they really -- excuse the pun. but they cotton to the message of job creation and particularly what this administration is doing to south carolina from the standpoint of going directly to war with them on the nrlb and telling boeing they can't come into the state. their justice department is taking on south carolina's immigration law. you're just seeing an all out war on this particular state. so having a southern governor standing up for south carolina, a job creating governor that's got an impeccable record on job creation and talking about washington, d.c., and the corrupt insiders we see between wall street and washington, a part-time congress that i've called for, i'm telling you, all of these places i've stopped today and yesterday, there's a great reception to that message. >> let's get down to the reality of political life here. you come fifth in iowa, running sixth in iowa, running fifth in the polls in south carolina. you know as well as i do that you can't really afford to come fifth on south carolina on the 25th of january. what are you going to do to turn around your fortunes given the state they're in at the moment? >> the fact is there's a lot that's going to happen in the next two weeks in south carolina. people are just now starting to focus on this. with mitt romney sitting where he is, there is a clear focus on on a real conservative candidate. mitt's not going to fill that bill. i feel really comfortable with not only our message but the people of south carolina are looking for a message that will talk about the real issues facing this country, which is the lack of focus on job creation and this administration's just abysmal record. when you look at $15 trillion worth of debt. i ask these people in south carolina, are you better off today than you were $4 trillion ago? they get it. they understand that this country is in trouble. we've got a president that doesn't understand economics. and then that's even before we get into foreign policy and the $1 trillion that he's talking about cutting out of our military budget. >> what is undeniable tonight is that mitt romney is on a roll and a roll that very, very few people in the history of caucuses and primaries have ever been on. the guy has won in iowa and new hampshire. a win is a win, and it's going to be very tough for any candidate now to actually seriously challenge him for the nomination, isn't it? >> well, i don't think so, and one of the reasons is south carolina is a winner take allstate. winning here wipes out the caucus victory and new hampshire. so if mitt's thinking he's got it in the bag, i think he's going to be in for a great surprise in south carolina when he shows up here. >> tell me, governor, i've been curious about it because it's the first time we've actually spoken on the show. my curiosity is arisen by i've seen clips of you speaking at public events where you've been eloquent and intelligent and funny and engaging and you grabbed the aaudience, and it's completely different to the rick perry that i see in the debate. why have you found the debates such a struggle? >> well, actually, the last three or four debates i've performed at a high level. but from a substantive standpoint, some of the earlier debates, i'll admit up front i wasn't at the best of my performance level. but the fact is, if we're looking for a good debater, we've got one in the white house. but it's not translating into leadership, and it's not translating into an economy the american people are looking for. so if they're looking for a record of job creation, the million jobs that i helped create in the state of texas over the last decade will resonate with americans. if they're looking for a great debater or an individual that reads the teleprompter well, they'll stick with what they've got. >> america clearly needs someone with a good business brain. the economy remains in the tank. you went after mitt romney today about his work at bain capital. you called him a greedy wall street so and so. was that the most sensible position calling him a vulture? should you be on that side of the coin given that you're a successful texas governor, a good businessman yourself? is that the best way to attack him? if mitt romney now wins the nomination, haven't you just landed barack obama a perfect stick to beat him with? >> well, there is a real difference between a venture capitalist and a vulture capitalist. and venture capitalists are good. they go in and inject their capital. they create jobs. bain capital, on the other hand, appears to me were vulture c capitalis capitalists. i don't question for a minute that barack obama and the general campaign would attack mitt romney. so we're doing him a favor by exposing it early on so he can figure out how to defend that, and more importantly, better from my perspective, he's not the nominee to begin with. >> funny, governor, many people would be saying you should pull out of the race, but your whole background, your whole upbringing has been about winning, particularly in politics. you've decided to stay in and fight this out. at what point will you throw in the towel? what is the realistic end game for you if you reach that point? >> well, i think you've said the magic words, if i meet that point, which is not in our game plan at all. the fact is south carolina is a place where campaigns are going to be made or broken. they pick the president. south carolinians are looking for a conservative candidate that will get this country back working again, and i'm it. >> i know, when you spent your time in england, you got used to english beer, despite its warmth. if i had a night like this at the office, governor, i'd go and have a few pints and dust myself off and move on to south carolina. >> i agree with you. when i get to london sometime, i'll go by your pub and have one on you. >> you can definitely do that, governor. thank you very much in joining me. >> thanks, piers. good to talk to you. go god speed. >> take care. on january 21st, south carolina is the next stop on the republican road show. joining me now is the chair of south carolina's republican party. a big night coming your way. everyone now talking about it as "d" day really. if mitt romney wins 3 out of 3, some of my expert star panel earlier said that would be game over for him. what's your assessment? >> no doubt about it, piers. i've got to tell you, i'm loving the best part about seeing all you guys in the media talking about south carolina. this is the battle royal. this is where it's going to take place. we've got a 30-year track record of picking the right nominee, and we're going to continue that tradition this time around. it looks like it's going to get ugly. newt gingrich has this super pac through a very wealthy benefactor bearing down $3.5 million of bile on mitt romney's head. are you happy to see it all kick off like this? is it good for the party? >> this is south carolina. we're used to the backyard brawl. we understand the primaries are a big fight. they're a vetting process to pick out the nominee. let's face it, we've got to replace that train wreck in the white house. our nominee needs to have a thick skin and be ready for anything. we've seen it in the past, and we expect more of the same. >> many say it's to the gop's advantage to have a long battle so the eventual nominee gets battle hardened for the real battle against president obama. what do you think? is it a good thing to wrap it up early, or can you see the merits of a good old tussle? >> i really think, piers, that a long drawn out battle is not necessarily a bad thing because it engages people nationwide. it gets people involved. they see the candidates all over the nation. so i'm not one of those that thinks we need to wrap this up. you know, i think that there's a possibility of that happening, obviously, but our state's going to dictate. our voters are going to pick. we're fiercely independent down here, and our folks have a high bar of expecting to meet these candidates. i've been telling people, whoever comes here and spends the time and connects with our voters is going to end up winning south carolina, and i believe that will be our nominee. if it is drawn out, i believe it will make our nominee better, and we're going to beat barack obama next fall. >> south carolina is also famously fiercely evangelical. you have a front-runner who's a mormon. is that going to be a problem for him, you think? >> we are fiercely evangelical, but what really sets south carolina apart is we're the first state that has that good blend of the republican base. we've got the social conservatives. we've got the military conservatives and the fiscal conservatives. i think the story about governor romney's womanism played well four years ago, but it's not nearly as big a story as it has been in the past. >> when you look at governor romney, he's been incredibly steady, barely put a foot wrong, but he can't seem to really galvanize the republican vote yet. what's he got to do to do that? because until he does that, until the party falls in love with him, he's always going to have this problem. >> with this many people in the race, it's not an unusual thing that you see it split so much. i got friends in every camp. all the six remaining candidates, i know people in all those campaigns, and all of them need to do the same thing. like i was saying before, they've got to get here, they've got to campaign, they've got to go to the nooks and crannies and meet folks in the diners. whoever creates that buzz that extends to the churches and the basketball courts and the gymnasiums this winter is going to create the buzz that gives them this victory. >> jack connelly, get your best suit out. all eyes will be on you january 21st. best of luck. >> thanks, piers. have a good night. >> up next, gop fireworks. famously strong opinions on who will win and who will lose in south carolina. i'd say third place is a ticket to ride, ladies and gentlemen. hello, south carolina. >> that's jon huntsman tonight, vowing to take his campaign to south carolina. that primary on january 21st could pretty well change the shape of the republican field. two conservatives, ron reagan, head of the reagan nation, and son of ronald reagan. and andrew breitbart. andrew breitbart, let me start with you. who are you endorsing right now? >> nobody. the interesting thing about what's happening right now is that a lot of the momentum that was built up in the conservative movement over the last three years by the tea party has been utterly destroyed. there's not a candidate out there that is the tea party's first, second, third, or fourth choice. what you have here is a fait accompli. the republican establishment has taken control of the republican party, and you have the predictability of mitt romney running just perfectly. david axelrod has helped create an organized left and occupy movement that is perfectly situated to attack mitt romney's record with bain capital. the only person who can beat barack obama at this point is barack obama himself. >> you say that, but mitt romney had played a very good campaign so far. he's the first republican, not a sitting president, to win in iowa and new hampshire. what more could he be doing than he is doing? >> well, he's playing a very good game of defense when he has a lot of money working to his benefit, and he's playing defense. he's not tapping into the zeitgeist of the last two or three years. he hasn't done a nod to the tea party whatsoever. he's borderline embarrassed about what's created this in our country where we're finally talking about fiscal sanity, a return to the constitution, all those things. it's going to be interesting because right now there is -- i was just in new hampshire. there's a lack of enthusiasm, and people are trying to make a pragmatic decision. can i get behind this guy the way i got behind john mccain? >> let me switch to michael reagan. is there a lack of enthusiasm? there appears to be. having said that, it is early days, and he has won the first two votes. i mean, he's not doing badly for someone who everyone else says they're not very enthusiastic about. >> well, he is winning, and, yes, there is this lack of enthusiasm for the candidates that are out there running for the republican nomination. part of what andrew says is absolutely correct. the other side of the coin is look how many conservatives you have in the race. you have five people that are trying to be more reagan than reagan. you have one moderate in the race who's splitting the vote with absolutely nobody while the vote is being split between newt gingrich, rick perry, rick santorum. you've got the part being played by ron paul. and now you've got huntsman in. you've got a man running for the president of the united states that is happier than hell that all these other people are in the race vying for the tea party while he's sitting there vying for votes. he wins with 25%, 30%, tonight 39%, because the rest of the percentage is being split by five or six other people. if the conservatives want to win, pick your champion, get behind that person, and ride that person home. >> your father's name has been invoked many times in the last few months. who do you think he would have preferred? i know you like newt gingrich. who do you think he would have been steering to? >> oh, my father never got involved in primaries for very good reasons and, in fact, would support the nominee of the party. he would probably sit there and say, even if the nominee were ron paul, then he would go at night and pray it wouldn't be ron paul, but it may very well be. you're looking at an election year where the economy is truly the issue out there. the world falling apart all over the world. whether it's the euro, what's going on in greece, the european union. the issues are coming to ron paul more than ron paul going to the issues. people are forgetting about what he's saying about what he would do as president internationally and look at what he would do as president of the united states with the economy. and everybody knows the economy right now is the issue, and that's why they're voting. >> andrew breitbart, you said earlier there's no enthusiasm for romney. having said that, it was a pretty good turnout in the end tonight. it was up and down all night. it ended up a record turnout, albeit by not very much, and you look at barack obama's position. i think only one president in history, franklin roosevelt, actually got elected with an unemployment rate of more than 8%. barack obama's got it all to do, hasn't he? >> well, what's happened over the last few months is we've had a focus on the republican party and the republican candidates with the media focusing on the republican party and what does it stand for. it's been a diversion from what does barack obama stand for and what has he been able to do. three years ago, the progressive movement and barack obama, it was an unprecedented time in millennium park where everybody had their faces out there in the open. everybody wanted to own how much they loved barack obama. it was a time of hope. it was a time of change. and now the occupy movement is set to be his number one defender, and its iconography are these guy fox masks, which represent anonymity. people are hiding themselves. there's a sense of despair out there. i don't believe that -- mitt romney is running a defensive campaign. i'm not saying he's hoping the economy goes bad, but i think he believes that barack obama has created a dire circumstance for himself where the republican will win no matter who it is. >> let's just hold that thought. >> piers, if i could jump in on this, back in 1980, if i can go back to 1980, the reason my father won other than being a great candidate is because the republicans made this election about jimmy carter. if the republicans make this election about barack obama and his policies, yes, they can win. if they get caught up in making it about personalities, then they'll split the party itself, and they will not be together in november next year and they will lose. it needs to be about barack obama. >> i was going to come back with just that thought. your father memorably said no republican can speak ill of another republican. i think i can ask you about that and also andrew breitbart, who only speaks ill of everybody. let's come back after the break and debate that very point. ladies and gentlemen, we have an opportunity in this race. we have an opportunity to be the true conservative, the true conservative who can go out and do what's necessary, not just to win this race, and we can win this race. >> that's rick santorum tonight claiming the mantel as the one true conservative in the gop race. and now we have michael reagan and andrew breitbart. gentlemen, i left it on this cliff hanger of ronald reagan's great line, republicans should never speak ill about republicans. andrew breitbart, you are notoriously evil about everybody. what do you think of the new politics where everyone just whacks everyone else? >> i don't think you know me, piers morgan. we spent maybe eight seconds together. >> it's a long eight seconds. >> i don't know what you mean -- i honestly don't know what you mean by that. i've supported people within the tea party who have been attacked by the mainstream media as being racist when there's not a sin ti scintilla of evidence that they're racist. so i've gone out with a snarl on my face as i try to protect people who represent in the country a return to the constitution, fiscal responsibility. these are pretty basic things. and the people who stood up for that on -- sarah palin was attacked mercilessly one year ago for the gabby giffords thing. she had nothing to do with that. the person who perpetrated that attack was not a political person, didn't do it for political purposes, yet she was attacked for it. so i go out there, and i defend those type of people. if i have a snarl on my face and i'm not happy about these circumstances in the media, it's unfortunate. i don't think that mitt romney is a bad -- >> on second thought, i'll keep to the snarl. michael reagan, let's talk seriously about this idea of newt gingrich going to south carolina and spending $3.5 million through a friend's super pac, which will certainly attack mitt romney after mitt romney did that to him through another super pac. what would your father make of this? he didn't believe republicans should do this to each other, did he? >> he didn't believe they should make personal attacks against each other. they can attack each other politically. by the way, andrew does a great job for everybody out there in the conservative movement. but it's interesting how newt is depicted. $10 million spent against him in iowa, in negative ads against newt gingrich, and he drops in the polls. now he decides i'd better come out of my box and start swinging. he's going to spend $3.5 million against mitt romney, and newt is seen as being mean. now, why is newt mean when he does it, but everybody else is doing it and it's okay in iowa? this is what the media does on a regular basis. >> let's be serious for a moment. i suppose the answer to that -- >> i was serious. >> i'm talking about andrew earlier, my discussion about his snarl. let's talk about newt gingrich's position. the fact that he's now turning mean, i guess, is the story because he tried to present himself as the new newt, the nice newt, the saintly newt, and it didn't work. and now he's going back to the way the more traditional newt would have behaved, which is when an opponent whacks him, he's going to whack him back, isn't he? >> i think it was very disingenuous. i think the critique against mitt romney right now from newt gingrich is a legitimate attack that many reagan democrats are going to have to -- are going to be confronting him on based upon what happened in his relationship with bain for all those years. it's legitimate, but coming from newt gingrich, it doesn't pass the smell test. this is a guy who had a relationship with fannie mae and freddie mac. this is a guy who's a beltway establishment guy who's taken money from every which way. so they knew that he was just throwing everything that he could at mitt romney. this is just a game of politics. i don't know why this late in the game a 68-year-old man would take it so personally. >> quickly, if mitt romney wins in south carolina, 3 out of 3, is it game over for him? has he won? >> oh, yeah. i personally think it's over right now, to be honest with you. i know that people would like it to go to that next level. i think it is a fait accompli. i think that mitt romney is a good guy. i really do. i just think that he's been playing incredibly defensive, and the republican establishment has been wishing for this. david axelrod has been wishing for this that there's just an historic lack of drama here. >> michael reagan, final word with you. >> piers, if i could jump in, really, you can find negatives about every one of the candidates that are out there. it doesn't matter. ronald reagan knew that. ronald reagan said support the nominee of the party. had we supported the nominee of the party in 2008, john mccain would have been the president of the united states of america. he wasn't because we didn't. we need to be supportive of whoever that nominee is this time. do they all have problems? yes, everybody has problems. the only perfect person i know died on the cross 2,000 years ago. we need to get over it and understand that everybody's got problems. let's pick the best guy. let's get behind that person and win in november instead of this in fighting that's going on within this party, who's the best, who's the worst, what problems they have. 17 years ago, they would have given a bar mitzvah to newt gingrich for what he did for the republican party. now they would burn the chair he's in. >> on that bombshell, michael reagan, andrew breitbart, thank you very much indeed. coming back after the break, two of the smartest guys around. ask them the big question tonight. how will south carolina actually vote? i believe, if we had a republican house, a republican senate, and a gingrich presidency, it would be amazing how much we could get done. >> a confident sounding newt gingrich there, but can he do the job in south carolina? joining me now is the director of center for politics at university of virginia. le me start with you. it looks like there's an unstoppable momentum behind mitt romney. newt gingrich is not giving up. has he still got a chance, do you think? >> not much of a chance. i think he has more of a chance of hurting romney than helping himself. gingrich has already become an unacceptable candidate to a certain segment of the republican establishment and his favorability rating with republican voters overall are pretty low. he's 50% unacceptable if you look at the gallup poll. i think he could hurt romney. for him to turn around and win the nomination is pretty hard. you almost need a third candidate to come in, like a jon huntsman to come in. >> larry, you've got a good record of predicting house and senate races. where's the smart money going now? >> it's all going to romney. i agree with everything david said. essentially, if romney had written the script, he couldn't have written it any better than he's had in iowa and new hampshire. now in south carolina, he continues to have a very divided, conservative field. there doesn't appear to be any way to get any of these three conservatives out of the race. jon huntsman didn't do particularly well tonight. so his challenge to romney probably will fizzle. it's a great setup for romney although i have to add one thing. i hope nate will agree with me here. there usually is a bump in the road for every nominee. reagan had a bump in the road, 1980, in losing iowa. bush, the senior, had a bump in the road in iowa as well, finished third. dole lost new hampshire. bush 43 lost new hampshire. mccain didn't compete in iowa because he knew he couldn't win. it would be extraordinary if romney wins iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, florida, and there's no bump in the road. >> that's the question. is there going to be a bump in the road? paint a picture for me of where it could go wrong for mitt romney in south carolina and florida. >> well, if he's being attacked from all sides with actual money and coherent arguments. i do think his republican rivals are making the wrong attack or making the attack the general voters, the obama campaign might make instead of making attacks on his flip flops and how conservative he really is. the fact that people are ganging up on mitt and making him more vulnerable could result in downward pressure on his numbers. i don't think that attack will. i think that attack will bring out a lot of the establishment to support romney and say, hey, let's end this now before we give david axelrod more ammunition for november. i can't think of a scenario, i suppose. >> larry, can you see a scenario? the other question i want to put to you, if you're barack obama, would you rather know who the nominee is now, or are you happy to watch the republicans scrap it up for a few more months? >> there's no question it's the latter. look at the tv ads that have been produced by newt gingrich and rick perry, among others, if mitt romney aactually the nominee. they have made the case against romney and bain capital much better than a democratic incumbent could ever have done. of course obama would want this to continue. >> larry, i've got to leave it there. are we both agreed mitt romney at the moment looks like a shoe-in? >> i would say the favorite. >> upward of 90%. >> 90%. that's probably good enough. >> i'd agree. >> gentlemen, thank you both very much indeed. we'll be back after this break. i want healthy skin for life. 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